Ergin Özdemir

Diveristy as competitive advantage

A diversity revolution has been transforming workplaces around the world, is yours next?

Research shows that companies and organisations that are inclusive and have the skills to harness their employees’ differences gain a competitive advantage over their competitors.

The “Diversity as a competitive advantage” session condenses Ergin’s more than 20 years of experience helping hundreds of companies and organisations do just that and will show you how you too can:

• Increase productivity by creating a work environment where all employees’ unique perspectives are involved in the development of products, business initiatives, and client relationships.

• Attract, recruit, and retain people with different perspectives by incorporating genuine professional development opportunities into the fabric of the organisation.

• Translate workplace diversity into increased profitability and productivity compared to less diverse competitors.

Normally available in either a half-day or full-day format, this session can be tailored to suit your your organisation’s unique requirements and goals. At the conclusion of this lecture, participants will leave with:

• Inspiration and a clearer idea of what a diverse workplace looks and feels like.

• Current examples of best practice.

• Concrete methods for implementing diversity best practice into any organisation.

Tuning into the hidden superpowers around us (TEDx)

Ergin explains how having a son with autism has enabled him to become a calmer, more focused, better planned, and paradoxically more spontaneous person, with those benefits expanding far beyond his personal life. Through countless real-life examples and some serious TEDster research, Ergin shows that rather than a burden, diversity in all its senses offers a competitive edge for every organization. All that is required is that we widen our view of where our society’s superpowers reside.

When we think of a superpower, we often turn to flying, x-ray vision, or extreme strength. But what if the unique way someone perceives the world is their superpower? Social entrepreneur and diversity advocate, Ergin Özdemir has a great deal to say about such super powers. As a “love immigrant” in Sweden and the father of a child with autism, Ergin, has experienced the transformative power of diversity first hand, first as an individual and then as a successful businessman. Ergin has assisted some of Sweden’s largest organizations with their diversity initiatives, initiated around 50 internships, set up a tertiary education scholarship program in Turkey, and created the annual Diversity Achievement award of 100,000kr.

Attracting and harvesing diversity

Want to make your investment in diversity sustainable and long-lasting?

In an increasingly globalised world, it is crucial to attract candidates with diverse backgrounds. As you establish yourself as a company that strives for diversity, more candidates may submit their application materials.

This will give you a larger hiring pool while increasing the overall diversity of your company. This diversity will strengthen your work force by providing experience and background knowledge from different perspectives. Changes to your job advertisement and recruitment methods will enable you to reach more candidates from diverse backgrounds.

We not only help you to identify and attract talents with diverse backgrounds but also help you make sure that they feel at home in your company so they stay, contribute, and help develop your business.

Leading for Diversity Awareness workshop

Do you want to increase your organisation’s innovation capability and become more profitable?

Do you feel ready to embrace diversity and maximise potential?

Do you need assistance to turn your ideas into actions?

ADA-workshop is designed to provide you with the necessary toolset for taking concrete steps towards a more inclusive organisation. Upon completing this workshop, you will:

• Have an increased awareness of how you can identify, use diversity, and gain a competitive advantage.
• Understand how you can create more value together using cognivtive diversity.
• Create and maintain common a definition of you vision, KPIs to measure and evaluate.
• Formulate your own step-by-step activity list to go from ideas to actions.

How?
ADA is an interactive workshop in three steps for management groups and teams of around 15 individuals. The workshop is based on scientific studies and best practice but always takes into account your organisation’s challenges and targets.

A:wareness
Workshop (step-1): Where do the norms come from and how are they maintained? How do preconceptions and myths affect our behaviour? How could all that lead to disfunctionality in a workplace?

D:efinition
Workshop (step-2): What do we mean with words like diversity, differences, and inclusion? What is your organisation’s vision for diversity in your organisation in the short and long term? How do we measure the progress and effects of our efforts?

A:ction
Workshop (step-3): What do I need to STOP doing, START doing, and CHANGE to do it better? How do we prioritise? Which are my and my organisation’s first steps towards a more inclusive workplace environment?

Never Trust Good Advice (TEDx)

In this talk, Ergin reflects how we look for predictions and advice in the winding roads of our lives. He recently realized that prior to decisions, regardless of importance, whether they were small and/or life changing, at the end he ignored many pieces of advice. Trusting his own gut feeling and following his heart has been his sole key success factor. Ergin Özdemir is a social entrepreneur, diversity advocate, and one of Sweden’s foremost public speakers. His approach to increasing diversity literacy is two-pronged. By working with leaders, employers, and institutions, he increases their diversity IQ so they can build, preserve, and harness the power of diverse teams. At the same, Ergin helps individuals learn how to use their diversity to their advantage when entering the workforce.

Ergin’s definition of diversity was stretched further when his son, Håkan, was diagnosed with autism 20 years ago.

Since then, Ergin has worked tirelessly towards creating dignified opportunities for people of diverse backgrounds to not only become part of, but also fundamentally transform workplaces. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.